The Newsletter of the Society for Ecological Restoration Northwest August 2012

Cascadia Restoration and Management News

Greetings from the Board!

Welcome to the summer edition of our newsletter. Elections were held in July and the SERNW board has installed a slate of new officers. The new Board electees for 2011-2012 are:

Barry Southerland, Executive Vice President Janice Martin, Program Vice President Frank Reckendorf, Treasurer Alaine Sommargren, Publications Keith Nevison, Director at Large Ray Entz, Director at Large Joshua Chenoweth, Director at Large Rolf Gersonde, Director at Large Danielle Berardi, Student Representative

****Thanks to outgoing Board members Hem Mozaria-Luna and Marnie Criley **** Board member bios are posted on our website (http://www.ser.org/sernw/BoardMemberBios.asp), along with contact information. We held our annual campout retreat in July at Potholes State Park in southeast Washington. During the meeting, we established committees and covered a lot of ground planning for the next two years. Program, Restoration Highlights, Strategic Communications, Website, and Board Development committees were formed. The new Board is busy planning events for the mid-conference cycle and will be working on a post-conference survey to help plan the next conference, slated for 2014. Board members meet once a month, via conference call on the third Tuesday at 6 PM, and you are welcome to sit in on the call. Members are also welcome and encouraged to participate on committees.

SERNW 20th Anniversary 1993-2013- SERNW History- First Installment

Until our anniversary in June 2013, we will have quarterly articles on the history of SERNW. In this edition, we feature the

first article from one of our founding members. If you have insights or knowledge to share about SERNW’s beginnings or

evolution, please contact Allison at SERNW20@gmail.com

Some Recollections- by Dean Apostol

Has it really been 20 years? Must be. I certainly look older than I did back then. I tell my students at Portland State University that ecological restoration has come so far in the past 20 years that I have to pinch myself to see if I am awake. When Mark G. Wilson and I organized the first (I think) regional restoration conference in 1990 in Portland, we had trouble finding even a half dozen built projects to present. A few years later we had the Seattle Conference, and were overwhelmed with hundreds of projects and papers. If I remember correctly, no SER conference prior to that one had more than 400 attendees. I believe we cracked 1000, largely thanks to Sono Hashisaki, Tim White, and Dennis Martinez.

Those old enough to remember will recall that the late 1980s and early 90s in Cascadia were all about “preservation,” and we had only two ecosystems anyone cared about: old growth conifer forests and salmon streams. Since then, we have moved quickly and impressively towards restoration and engagement with these and all other regional ecosystems, from high alpine (North Cascades, Mt Rainier) to tidal estuaries (too many to list). Most of the funding is still on salmon and stream related projects, but there is an impressive portfolio of work on oak woodlands, prairies, and sagebrush steppe ecosystems. People can make a full or part time living doing restoration now, and increasingly they can get a formal education in the subject. University of Victoria has a longstanding certificate program, Montana has a degree program, and most other universities across the region offer at least a few courses.

SERNW and SERBC have held numerous conferences. And the annual Urban Ecosystem Research Consortium at Portland State has been a fantastic gathering for restorationists to strut their stuff, and for research to be shared.

When I was putting the final touches on Restoring the Pacific Northwest in 2005, I asked all our contributors to give me their assessment on the “state of the art” of restoration practice at that time. Did we know enough about our ecosystems to restore them? Were we gaining or losing ground? Every contributor felt we were at best in an experimental stage then, and were still losing our ecosystems faster than we were repairing them. Today, I’m not so sure. We have taken out dams, secured just about every remaining prairie west of the Cascades, created new ones, and have “released” a lot of oak trees from competing conifers. We have thinned and burned huge areas of dry, ponderosa forests and woodlands. Salmon are back in some rivers like the Umatilla, where they had been extirpated. Older conifer forests have increased in acreage in Oregon and Washington states, according to Forest Service researchers. Hundreds, if not thousands of miles of forest roads have been closed or removed.

Most importantly, an incredible network of young restoration workers and thinkers has emerged, along with communities represented by hundreds of watershed councils and “friends of the puddle” (as Steve Erickson calls them) groups that do restoration on an ongoing basis. In 20 years, a blink of the eye to this aging restorationist, we have come farther than we can measure. If we haven’t turned the corner towards gaining ground yet, we have to be getting close. Keep it up folks. We are just getting started.

(Dean Apostol is one of the founding members of SERNW. He published Restoring the Pacific Northwest; the art and science of ecological restoration in 2006. He continues to consult on restoration with MIG, a landscape architecture and planning firm in Portland. He also teaches restoration at Portland State University, where he makes students buy his book.)

SERNW Beginnings

The very first newsletter of SERNW, The SER-Northwest News, was published in summer 1994. The Chapter had become official at the Irvine, CA annual SER meeting in June 1993, where Tim White of CH2M Hill and Sono Hashisaki of Springwood Associates presented and received approval for the formation of the Chapter. The impetus for the chapter was a strong desire by restorationists in the PNW to communicate with one another across the region. Elections were held in Spring 1994, with Clay Antieau as the first President; Scott Lambert, of then Soil Conservation Service, as Vice-President; Hans Ehlert, of Weyerhauser Company, as Secretary; and Tina Miller of King County Surface Water Management, as Treasurer. Dennis Martinez of the Takelma Inter-Tribal Project in Oregon, was the first SERNW Representative to SER, and later founded the Indigenous People’s Restoration Network within SER. The Northwest Chapter boundary was established based on the Cascadia Bioregion, as developed by David McCloskey, Seattle University sociology professor and founder of the Cascadia Institute, who coined the term Cascadia in the late 1970’s. According to McCloskey, Cascadia included parts of Northern California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho,

Western Montana, British Columbia and Southeast Alaska, running from the Alaska panhandle to Cape Mendicino, California and from coast to crest, from the Pacific Ocean to the Rocky Mountains and the Continental Divide. Importantly, McCloskey was the first to adapt the area to follow ecological boundaries over preexisting political ones. The first SERNW Annual Meeting and Summer Campout was held in September 1994 at Chilliwack Lake, B.C. Subregional repesentatives were established for 1) Icelands (Alaska); 2) Northwest coast (Canada); 3) Central coast (WA and OR); 4) South coast (Northern CA); 5) Fraser (B.C.); 6) Columbia BC and 7) Montana); and 7) Snake (Idaho and Nevada). (B.C. and Alaska later became separate chapters). The first SERNW Conference was already in the planning stages by summer 1994, titled The Role of Restoration in Ecosystem Management, and was held at the University of Washington in Fall 1995. Many of our Chapter members may remember that exciting conference. The Northwest Forest Plan had just been signed, with the US Forest Service adopting Ecosystem Management as its new planning principle. Symposia presented included: Landscape Interactions and Ecosystems Dynamics, chaired by Mike Williams of Williams Consulting, Seattle; Local Participation and Economic Revitalization: Links to Effective Ecosystem Restoration, chaired by Steve Moddenmeyer, then of the Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe, and Restoration as a Component of Ecosystem Management Planning, chaired by Dean Apostol, then of the Mt Hood National Forest.

Restoration 2012 – Beyond Borders Conference Report

SERNW joined with SER-BC and the WA-BC Chapters of the American Fisheries Society to present Restoration 2012: Beyond Borders, May 15-18 at the University of Victoria in BC Canada. Keith Nevison, Director at Large shares his insights of the Conference experience.

This year’s SERNW conference was organized in collaboration with the American Fisheries Society’s WA-BC chapter, SER-BC, and the Restoration of Natural Systems Department of the University of Victoria. The conference was held on the beautiful grounds of the University of Victoria on B.C.’s Victoria Island. The weather was fantastically sunny throughout the week which helped to swell attendance for the daily field trips to restoration sites on UVic’s campus. Trip highlights included a walk through Mystic Vale where Great Horned Owls were spotted and where restoration on Hobbs Creek is ongoing, a hike up Mt. Tolmie with a spectacular view of the Salish Sea area, and a walk across campus through Garry oak meadows with great camas and other wildflowers in the peak of bloom. Though it was impossible to attend all of the symposia at the conference, I attended many fantastic talks during the 3-day

As first envisioned, the Northwest chapter

encompassed over 600,000 sq.mi.

Courtesy of:

Cascadia Institute,

http://cascadia-

institute.org

Mystic Vale field trip

program. Dave Polster’s presentation which featured his simple but effective landscape restoration techniques on mine and roadway sites in interior Western Canada were particularly noteworthy. Dave has undertaken extensive photo-point monitoring on many of his sites over the years, which provides a wonderful illustration of the progress and efficacy of intentional ecological restoration (and a good lesson for budding restorers!). The Garry Oak Ecosystems Recovery Team’s (www.goert.org) symposia on the challenges and successes of white oak prairie and associated species restoration on Vancouver Island was another highlight for me. Having the opportunity to attend the Friday day-long field trip to Garry oak sites up island was a fantastic example of seeing theory put into practice, with ongoing research on effective herbicide applications coupled with manual weed removal and prescribed burning as tools to re-establish oak meadows. I was happy to see that one of the focuses of this year’s Beyond Borders conference was on indigenous perspectives on restoration techniques, as well as traditional ecological knowledge (TEK). Restoration practitioners and academics are discovering more that people’s cultural interactions with the landscape can have a profound effect on the success or failure of restoration projects. By reaching out and involving peoples in on-the-ground projects, practitioners can save resources, build community, and set the course for local groups to protect, restore, and treasure the natural environment. A great example of this that was highlighted at the conference came from Joseph Maloney in his presentation on combining non-native fish removal and habitat restoration on a watershed scale. This discussion was part of the topic, “Indigenous Perspectives on Restoration in the PNW” and documented the efforts of the Kalispel tribe in Idaho and Eastern Washington to kill and remove previously stocked non-native brook trout coupled with translocation of westslope cutthroat trout from nearby watersheds. Very interesting was the realization that aquatic ecosystem managers practicing restoration sometimes deliberately dam a waterway cutting it off from the larger watershed in order to successfully eradicate exotic species. Only after this process has been completed are these waterways then re-united (counter to the push for landscape managers to establish more contiguous corridors for native species migration). The 2012 Restoration Beyond Borders conference was successful in bringing together researchers, practitioners, professors, and students from Canada and the U.S. to share knowledge on the latest techniques in ecosystem restoration. It was great to share the venue with aquatic and landscape ecologists, mine reclamation professionals, and professors working on community outreach and environmental protection among others. It is my hope that we will continue to bridge the communication and information gaps between restorers as we document and take on new projects in the future.

SERNW’s Best Student Poster and Presentation Announced

At the Restoration 2012: Beyond Borders conference, student presenters competed for best poster and presentation awards. We are proud to announce this year’s winners:

Best Poster

“Distribution of Culturally Significant Bracken Fern after Prescribed Fire in Skokomish Savanna Restoration

Project.” Lindsey Hamilton, University of Washington.

Best Presentation

“Factors Influencing the Distribution of Late-Seral Woody Species along the Upper Missouri River in

Central Montana.” Kali Pennick, College of Forestry and Conservation, University of Montana.

SERNW’s Annual Recognition Awards Announced

Conservationist of the Year Each year, SERNW presents an award for recognition of year-long efforts to preserve, protect, restore or enhance environments necessary for healthy ecosystems. In recognition of this year’s inauguration of the Elwha Dam removal and the culmination of decades of efforts to restore the Elwha River and its watershed, the Board has selected the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe, represented by its Chairwoman Frances Charles and Robert Elofson, Tribal River Restoration Director. The former hydroelectric dams — the Elwha, built in 1912, and the Glines, built in 1926 — not only decimated salmon runs, but also inundated Klallam village sites, resource sites, and fishing and hunting areas. The Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe are recognized for their work enacting Public Law 102-495 for the restoration of Elwha River, and their critical role in bringing to fruition the largest dam removal in the United States.

Presidents Award This year’s President’s award is given in association with our 20th Anniversary in 2013. Former Board Member Peter Hummel, Prinicipal of Anchor QEA, was selected for his continuing support and service to SERNW over the years. He has contributed significantly to the chapter for over 10 years, including serving as a Board member from 2002-2006, and sponsoring conferences since 2005. Peter continued his service by assisting the organizing committee with this year’s conference in Victoria, far beyond mere sponsorship; and will also serve as a panelist for the upcoming SER-UW Student Guild Restoration Forum. Thank you, Peter for your critical support to our SERNW Chapter!

Special Recognition Award Outgoing President and 2012 Conference Chair Ali Meeks was awarded a special recognition award for her efforts in organizing the Restoration 2012: Beyond Borders conference after a work relocation carried her to Mississipi. Her leadership, organizational skills, and amiable persona allowed her to coordinate the successful conference between three organizations in two countries. She will be sorely missed by the Chapter, but we are sure we haven’t heard the last of her in SER! Our loss is the southeast region’s gain!

Save the Date! SER2013 World Conference on Ecological Restoration Reflections on the Past, Directions for the Future

October 6-11, 2013 in Madison, Wisconsin

The SER2013 World Conference on Ecological Restoration: Reflections on the Past, Directions for the Future marks the 25th Anniversary of SER and will bring together more than 1,500 individuals and organizations from around the world interested in the science and practice of ecological restoration as it relates to natural resource management, climate change, biodiversity conservation, traditional ecological knowledge, environmental policy and sustainable livelihoods.

Madison, Wisconsin provides an ideal setting in which to celebrate the Society’s 5th World Conference and 25th Anniversary, as it was here that SER was originally founded and here that the science and practice of ecological restoration first began with the pioneering philosophies and early experiments of Aldo Leopold, Theodore Sperry and others. Visit http://www.ser2013.org/ for more information about SER2013.

Robert Elofson, River Restoration

Director Lower Elwha Klallam

Tribe

Current Restoration Update:

Restoration Highlights

A Geomorphic Restoration Approach

for Steelhead Habitat in an Incised

System with Floodplain Loss- by W.

Barry Southerland Fluvial

Geomorphologist USDA NRCS.

New in the SER and Island Press Book Series

The collaboration between SER and Island Press has resulted in the publication of over 25 books in the Science and Practice of Ecological Restoration series with several new titles forthcoming. SER members receive a 25% discount (contact caroline@ser.org for the code). The newest edition to the series is Plant Reintroduction in a Changing Climate: Promises and Perils edited by Joyce Maschinski and Kristin E. Haskins. Considered an essential conservation tool, reintroductions have been conducted for many of the world’s rarest plant species. The expertise and knowledge gained through these efforts constitute an essential storehouse of information for conservationists faced with a rapidly changing global climate.

This book is a comprehensive and accessible reference for practitioners to use in planning and executing rare plant reintroductions. It presents a comprehensive review of reintroduction projects and practices, the circumstances of their successes or failures, lessons learned, and the potential role for reintroductions in preserving species threatened by climate change. Contributors examine current plant reintroduction practices, from selecting appropriate source material and recipient sites to assessing population demography. Plant Reintroduction in a Changing Climate culminates in a set of Best Reintroduction Practice Guidelines, included in an appendix. These guidelines cover stages from planning and implementation to long-term monitoring, and offer not only recommended actions but also checklists of questions to consider that are applicable to projects around the world. Joyce Maschinski is the conservation ecologist leading the South Florida conservation program at Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden. Kristin E. Haskins is the director of research at The Arboretum at Flagstaff and a research assistant professor Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, Arizona. Price is $100.00 (Cloth)/$50.00 (Paper) before discount.

Submittals are requested for Restoration Highlights

Restoration Highlights is a feature on our website for members to share their projects successes and learnings. We are accepting case studies, student research summaries, and restoration updates (see below). We would like this to be a monthly feature, so please send in your articles at: http://www.ser.org/sernw/pubs.asp.

SERNW is on facebook! Like us at SERNW! Any member can share items of interest on the facebook page, but you can also submit topics to SERNW20@gmail.com

Your Strategic Communication Team,

Allison Warner, Adrien Elseroad, and Jim Hallett

P.S. Don’t forget to renew your membership on the SERNW webpage.

Restoration Highlights submittal guidelines and

contact information: www.sernw.org

Also on our SERNW Facebook page

RESTORATION HIGHLIGHTS

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SERNW has launched a new publishing initiative, Restoration Highlights on our web and Facebook pages. We are highly interested in your restoration based contributions in the following three categories:

• Restoration Updates • Student Offerings • Case Study Summaries

1) Restoration Updates: Abstract of approximately 2-3 paragraphs that gives a brief overview of your project and its key findings or contributions. These may be current projects in process or finished works. 2) Student Offerings: Students are invited, via this separate category, to submit a brief abstract of their project as information sharing with the restoration community. These submissions may be finished works or projects in progress. 3) Case Study Summaries: These will be more detailed summary of a restoration project or method, up to 3 pages of pictures and text. These submissions should be finished projects.

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